Troop withdrawals in eastern Ukraine to start on Saturday: OSCE

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Members of the Ukrainian armed forces stand guard near a car of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the settlement of Bohdanivka, which is located in a disengagement area near the contact line with Russian-backed separatist rebels, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine November 8, 2019. REUTERS/Oleksandr Klymenko

KIEV (Reuters) - Troop withdrawals in a village in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine will begin on Saturday at 1000 GMT, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said in a statement.

Ukraine and Russian-backed separatist rebels have agreed to phased troop withdrawals as a confidence building measure that could pave the way for a four-way summit between Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany on the Donbass conflict.

The Kiev government has said that the third such withdrawal, in the village of Petrivske that is due to take place on Saturday, would mean that Ukraine has fulfilled all necessary conditions from its side for such a summit to take place.